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Smart meters

So called “smart meters” are being rolled out nationally, as part of a global program to track, control, and tax all energy usage in fine detail. These meters are capable of capturing and transmitting via wireless network detailed information about your utility and appliance usage, and of being remotely controlled. Seattle is poised for a deployment in late 2014 or early 2015, after the smart meters were included in the “Climate Action Plan” approved by the Seattle City Council. Seattle City Light hosted three forums in August and September to hear residents’ concerns about the planned deployment, although ultimately the major deployment decisions reside with the Council. (Please sign the linked petition to support an all-out ban.)

Both the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) have pointed out the privacy problems with the new smart meter grid. These devices will allow energy providers (and anyone with access to that information, including third party or unauthorized access) to determine in fine detail when people are home at your house, and to determine their activities. New information has also come forth that these devices are part of the NSA’s ignominious PRISM spying program.

Even worse, since smart meters communicate with utility companies and with enabled appliances via a wireless network, they emit microwave radiation, and they have been found to violate already high FCC limits for human exposure to microwave radiation. There are also reports of smart meters interfering with pacemakers and other implants, and they can contribute to the increasingly prevalent problem of electrosensitivity among other health problems. For these reasons, while an opt-out option would be better than mandatory exposure for Washingtonians, it would be best to dispense with this dangerous, intrusive, obsolete technology altogether.

UPDATE: Means for Change has sent a copy of Take Back Your Power, along with a Notification of Liability to 378 Washington State government officials and professional leaders, detailing the dangers of the proposed smart grid. Please see the full information at the first link under “Take Action,” along with the notification that you can use in contacting your district legislators.)